Kukah, Arewa youths slam Northern leaders

On December 7, 2011 · In News
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KADUNA-Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Hasan Matthew Kukah and the Arewa Youths Forum, AYF yesterday lampooned Northern leaders over their roles in the under development of the area, saying the leaders were hypocritical with claims of following the footprints of the late Premier of the North, Sir Ahmadu Ballo; just as the former Petroleum Minister called for the proscription of the Christian Association of Nigerian, CAN, warning that failure to do so would force Muslims to come under one umbrella as, Muslim Association of Nigeria, MAN with the attendant consequences.

They spoke at the Northern Peace Conference in Kaduna.

Aminu warned that should Muslims have the same kind of arrangement, it may create a front for constant conflicts.

Bishop Kukah and AYF also pooh-poohed the peace parley in Kaduna by the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF and some Northern Elders pointing out that it was not only a waste of time and resources but a jamboree.

He accused religious leaders of conniving with politicians to perpetuate injustice on the people through sectionalising their religious faith.

Also, the Governor of Plateau State Jonah Jang, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Pam Pyojock said that, the problem in the north was that some northerners had imported mercenaries from Chad and Niger Republics to engage the Middle Belt area in a war over the contest of land and expansion of religion.

“With the desert fast spreading southward, the demand for land is putting pressure on the frontline states of Plateau and parts of the Middle Belt.


Former Head of State , Chairman of the Occasion Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd ) with Chairman ACF Alh. Aliko Mohammed at Arewa Conference on Peace , Theme:- Peace and Unity for Development Held in Kaduna Monday.photo by Olu Ajayi.

“Mercenaries are being imported from Niger and Chad, because of the porous nature of our borders. This is evident from the fact that any time some extremists were caught in violence on the plateau, some of them turn out to come from these countries. In fact, they end up as a nuisance by those who brought them, because they no longer take orders from them. The issue of desertification is therefore a very serious problem. How we preach and propagate our religion is also another problem”, he said. At the peace conference yesterday, Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna state, called for the creation of state police as a means of ensuring peace in the North which had been torn apart by unrest that had led to the death of over 2000 innocent people in the last two years.

Bishop Kukah spoke on “Roots of ethno-religious crises in Northern Nigeria,” asking Northern leaders to stop praising the late Ahmadu Bello and other past leaders and pursue programmes that would develop and transform the living conditions of their people.

“Today, 99 per cent of our discussions are on Sardauna and about Sardauna; but we are being hypocritical. We are seriously looking at almajirai (beggars) in the North, while the Southern states are far developing their educational system to the extent that, the number in one of their states is more than all the ones in one of our zones.

“We need to have a system that ensures that people play by the rules. People obey the law and not breach the laws and people’s rights also not violated.

“For me, if Christians in Kebbi, Zamfara are complaining, let Muslims, too, in other places complain so that we begin to have good ways of overcoming these challenges.

“We need a society that is struggling to ensure equality.”

However, a statement signed by the Chairman of the AYF, Alhaji Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu and distributed at the venue of the peace conference yesterday, read: “From what we have seen and followed, there is nothing new that guarantees significant future, for the downtrodden Northern masses, be they Muslims or Christians, Hausa, Fulani, Bajju, Berom, Angas, Igala or Egbira in this conference.

“It is based on the foregoing that we make the following observations:

“The Peace Conference is nothing but waste of time and a jamboree and talk show, and also another unique opportunity for elite re-union aimed at renewing political lineages.

“Nothing more than that. There is nothing new and convincing that heralds a new dawn in the North. What is there that we have never heard? What did the main actors say that they have not been saying in the past decades?

“How many Peace Conferences did Sir Ahmadu Bello organise to bring about unity and development in the North?

“Even the South that is ahead of the North today; how many such gatherings have they organised to have a lead ahead of the North?

“In short the so called conference was purely politically motivated and not a genuine commitment as demonstrated there.

“It has nothing to do with the masses but just dancing with their lyrics but not the rhyme, as contained in the hymn book.

“What impact does the August meeting have on the lives of aggrieved Northerners in Maiduguri, Kano, Bauchi, Damaturu, or Southern Kaduna? What impact does it have on the Almajiri children in the streets?

“ACF should note that peace is priceless, and not cosmetic; rather it can only be achieved with sincere and honest leadership which we cannot vouch for in the North now.

“Our sympathy rather goes to few sincere individuals who actively engaged in the talk show but the reality is that the issue of forgiveness and reconciliation go beyond rhetoric or at a tea or coffee party. In fact the debate arising from one of the technical sessions confirmed our argument, for we witnessed how insincerity and sentiment dominated and beclouded the issue of the supposed Road Map to peace. As far as we are concerned, it is a jamboree and waste of public funds that would have been channelled to the ailing but crucial sectors in the North.

“We are conscious of how the New Nigerian Newspapers, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, along with other legacies of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello are in ruins today, except that the leaders are beautifying them with lies and insincerity.

“Till this very moment, Christians and Muslims in the North are still killing one another, because of religious manipulation of same elite. What have they done by directly concentrating their efforts in recociling feuding communities, and appealing to them to sheath the swords, they, the elite supplied them through preaching hatred, acrimony and false religiosity?” the AYF’s statement further stated.

In his speech, Governor Yakowa said: “In other to address issues of violence in the country, the various security agencies must take their work seriously; whether you are talking about the police or the State Security Services, SSS, or other para-military organizations that engage in the work of security, they must take their work seriously.

“Throughout this country, we have only one police force. Because of the size of this country and the size of our police force, it poses a great challenge and I can talk from experience. I have severally referred to the unfortunate post election violence that erupted here in Kaduna state in April this year as most unfortunate and most unnecessary, because it was purely political…

“When the situation becomes unmanageable, you run to the police. When violence erupts in one area, you have to get in touch with the Commissioner of Police, who will in turn get in touch with the Inspector General of Police who will then start arranging for additional police support from other state formations.

’’Before that happens, only God knows the magnitude of damage that would have been done. So I suggest that we have state police in place.

“Of course, the governor takes the blame because he will be accused of not responding on time to the situation. Unfortunately, people don’t know that the governor is not in charge because he has to go through a channel.

“It is the same thing with the Army. I remember when it happened; I got in touch with the GOC who in turn had to get in touch with the Chief of Army Staff. At first, we were told that we were going to get reinforcement from Kaduna and then, it was Jos and before that could be done, a lot of things have gone wrong”.

Yakowa lamented that more often than not, people arrested for violent activities were released without trial, pointing out that this had not helped in addressing cases of violence in the country. According to him, ‘’the police should make sure that those behind communal violence are arrested, investigated or interrogated and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

“Anybody involved in communal violence must be made to face the wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent to others.

“Sometimes, when people are arrested; between the police and the Judiciary, you don’t know what happens and they are released. Therein lies the challenge we face in this type of situation, not realizing the amount of money that these communal crisis has been causing us in the north”.

But former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, in his contribution, said that the current Northern leaders were out of tune with modernity, saying they should give the young ones the opportunity to develop their potentials,

According to Ribadu, “We need to ponder over the ability of society and the community to do the right thing for the generations coming up is very important.

“We keep talking about Sardauna, Tafawa Balewa and the rest of them. They did good jobs and showed the way to our present leaders/fathers, leaving them with the responsibility of carrying on with the good work. Some of you did the job very well.

“We believe that it is also our challenge today to continue with what you have started. Today, it is a modern world and a different world. It is not the world of the 1950s, 19602, 1970s or the 19802.

“Things have changed and we must take note of that. Let us understand that this north we are talking about today is a different one. We have new challenges that require new approaches and solutions.’’

So now that AYF has spoken on the youth and north problem,how about we identify the culprits and deal with them!!! Jungle justice style We can't keep being held to ransome here.It is about survival.This stupid goons just want to keep people in the dark and at the expense of development.Lets ID the people and clear em out.Enough of the crap,enough delay,enough they won't change,lets sending them fleeing or bleeding and not meeting!!!A revolution should take charge abeg!!!!Old for new shikenan!!!